Bunch Of Fives: Cortney Dixon

South Shields-based artist, producer and guitarist Cortney Dixon releases her latest single IN & OUT, an indie-pop earworm inspired by The Go-Go’s and Blondie. Recorded in Cortney’s own studio, the track makes light of relationships where someone’s always moving out to their mums, only to move back in again shortly after. Sonically, the crisply produced track is packed with eighties pep and comes complete with catchy, melodious vocals, shimmering guitar, post-punky bass and a satisfyingly frenzied finish.

Here, Cortney tells us about her top five live performances…

Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac is my favourite band of all time. Rumours was one of the first albums I ever fell in love with and one of the first records I owned. When Fleetwood Mac did their last full original line-up tour in (I think) 2017. I was 18 and I didn’t get a ticket to the original run of gigs as I was meant to be going with my boyfriend of the time, but he booked tickets with another girl instead (). The Birmingham date got cancelled and put back on sale. I booked 1 ticket straight away because I thought I’m not missing this opportunity again. My poor Mam and Dad drove me to Birmingham and sat outside in the car whilst I went to watch Fleetwood Mac and it was still, to this day, one of the best experiences of my life. To see Stevie Nicks in the flesh was absolutely magical and the band still sounded AMAZING! 

Bon Iver
I recently went to see Bon Iver at Manchester Arena and I have never been so hypnotised. I was in an absolute trance. I think the whole arena was. I’ve never been in a space with so many people, yet I was able to hear a pin drop. It felt like a very special experience. I felt every human emotion possible during that gig. I laughed, I cried, I danced. They were 2 drummers and the stage show was incredible. Justin Vernon’s voice was on another level and watching him do CREEK sent shivers up my spine. I never wanted that gig to end. Coming out of the gig, we just wanted to see it again and we started googling tickets for the London show the following night but unfortunately, it never materialised as we couldn’t afford it and we both had work the next day. 

The Specials
I was always a huge fan of The Specials and I went to see them at Newcastle 02 Academy and I honestly wasn’t expecting anything too ‘Special’, but my god… IT WAS MINT. It was great to see Terry Hall too. You never know when it might be your last chance to see somebody live, and it’s so easy to be like ‘oh I can’t afford it’ but I am, more and more, starting to realise you just have to just go and see your fave bands and artists live whenever the opportunity arises. I’m still so sad that I missed Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks Hyde Park gig and not long after Tom Petty passed away. I was a massive Tom Petty and The Heartbreaker fan. Lesson learnt! Anyways, The Specials gig was just banger after banger and was so much fun. The gig was pretty rough, I was getting thrown around in the middle amongst a bunch of lively ol’ skinheads. I had to put my Green Dr Martens in the bin straight after. Totally ruined. The only pair of Dr Martens I have ever been able to ruin. I think that’s pretty impressive to be honest. 

Amy Winehouse
My mam and dad took me to see Amy Winehouse at the Carling Academy when I was 12 years old. I first became obsessed with Amy when she released Frank. I just thought she had such an amazing voice and her lyrics were great. I would sit and read all the lyrics off the lyric booklet that came in the CD. She was on top form that night. I will never forget she started Tears Dry On Their Own, and stopped her band and said ‘That was shit; let’s do it again’. Then at the end of the night, she came back on stage for the encore and pulled Pool chalk out of her bra and gave it as a gift to the girl in the front row for having the best hair. I saw that gig over 10 years ago, but still feel like I can remember everything about it. 

The Pretenders
I saw them at The Cluny in February. I managed to get a ticket last minute. It was so cool seeing one of my favourite bands in a 300-cap venue, and even better, playing on a stage I have played on many times before. There was no bull shit about that gig. No light show, no smoke and mirrors, just a great band, playing great songs. Chrissie Hynde looked incredible too. She still GOT IT! One of the first songs I learnt on guitar was Brass In Pocket. They didn’t play that song, but I didn’t expect them to. I just love so much that THE PRETENDERS PLAYED AT THE CLUNY!!!